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Nigeria's Bid for Inclusion in the Permanent Seat of The uu NIGERIA’S BID FOR INCLUSION IN THE PERMANENT SEAT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS: AN ASSESSMENT UDEH, Shedrack Chijioke [email protected] And OKOROAFOR, Ejike Chibuzor [email protected] Department of Social Sciences Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri Abstract This paper seeks to examine the opinions of some scholars on Nigeria‘s agitation for reform and inclusion in the permanent seat of the Security Council of the United Nations, presently occupied by five countries including the United States of America, Russia, Great Britain, France and China. The essence of the reform is to make it look more democratic thereby reflecting all the continents of the world, against the present order. The paper also investigates the elements that undermine Nigeria‘s bid for inclusion in the permanent seat of the Security Council. The paper adopts content analysis in its methodology, with particular focus on secondary data as source of information.. The paper finds out that Nigeria, at present, cannot occupy a permanent seat of the Security Council because of domestic and or internal problems such as political leadership, economic dependency, military capacity and technology, democratic practice, human rights abuses, etc. The paper recommends that Nigeria solves her domestic problems before looking at the world problems. Besides, she can still exercise power at the international system using the machinery of regional platforms like ECOWAS and AU. Keywords: Nigeria, Security Council, United Nations, Permanent Seat, Agitation Introduction An international organization is an organization with an international membership, scope or presence. International organizations are classified into two main types (Evans, Graham and Newnham, 1998). These are first, the international non- governmental organizations (NGOs) which comprise two sub-organizations. These are the international non-profit organizations such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement, International Committee of Red Cross, etc. The other one is the -126- UDEH,uu S. C. & OKOROAFOR, E. C.: Nigerian’s Bid for Inclusion in the Permanent Seat of the Security Council of the United Nations: As Assessment international corporations which are profit making and which are referred to as multinational corporations, and they include Coca Cola Company, Toyota. Second, the intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), refer to those organizations that are primarily made up of sovereign states (referred to as member states). Notable examples include the United Nations (UN), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe (COE), European Union (EU) and World Trade Organization (WTO) (Intergovernmental Organization, n.d). Others are sub-regional organizations such as ECOWAS and regional organizations such as AU (Formerly OAU) (Akonye, Udeh & Paul, 2013). International organizations play important roles towards the advancement of interest of their members. Some of these roles include helping to set the international agenda, mediating political bargaining, providing place for political initiatives and acting as a catalyst for coalition. Besides, international organizations contribute to habits of cooperation, in other words, organizations and states become used to working together, and engage in information gathering and surveillance. Again, international organizations lend out technical cooperation to the member countries which require them. International organizations perform certain supervisory roles, and also provide lucidity and information to members of the particular organization. Following the failure of League of Nations established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the United Nations was established in October, 1945. Five countries including United States, United Kingdom, United Soviet Socialist Republic, China and France spearheaded its formation. However, since its establishment, the United Nations may be having some challenges. These are financial, effective operation of the UNO, terrorism, conflicts in different parts of the world and the use of veto power by the five permanent members of the Security Council which are the US, UK, USSR, China and France. Among these problems, the use of veto power, which means power by the five permanent members to cancel or over rule decisions made by the United Nations, has been pilloried by other member states of the United Nations because it has created inequality among members and forestalled the efforts to have unanimous or consensus decisions on major issues by the United Nations. According to Karen (1995), ―the actual inequality of states is recognized in the veto power given to five permanent wealthy states in budget negotiations, and the weighted voting system used by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund‖. Thus, it was in realization of the problem posed by the use of veto power by the five permanent members of this organ that there have been calls for reform of the Security Council. According to Babangida (1992), ―Nigeria‘s call for a permanent seat on the Security Council of the United Nations is to fully reflect its geographical composition‖. The paper seeks to answer the following research questions -127- uuInternational Journal of Development and Management Review (INJODEMAR) Vol. 11 June, 2016 (a) Does Nigeria have effective political leadership and economic capability that are pre- requisites for the position of permanent membership of the Security Council of the United Nations? (b) Does Nigeria have the military capability and technology to guarantee global peace and security? (c) Does Nigeria uphold good democratic practices obtainable in other democratic nations of the world as to enable it become a member? (d) Does Nigeria have good human rights record that can enable her challenge acts of human rights abuse that often times result into crises and wars in other parts of the world? Methodology This paper adopted content analysis in explaining the variables. Secondary data were used and information was gathered from journals, newspapers, magazines, colloquium and periodicals. The paper is divided into five parts. Part one which is the introduction includes the research questions and methodology. Part two dwells on overview of both the United Nations and Security Council, and the theoretical framework. Part three examines the arguments in favour of Nigeria‘s candidacy for position of permanent membership of the Security Council. Part four focuses on the factors that undermine Nigeria‘s quest for inclusion as a permanent member of the Security Council. Part five forms the concluding part of the work. United Nations and Security Council: An Overview United Nations Organization This is a universal organization that represents the whole population of the globe, and it is not limited to any specific or geographical territory. The organization is a blend of Wilsonian idealism and post World War II realism. A one- time United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the allied countries. The term was officially used on 1-2 January 1942, when 26 governments signed the declaration (United Nations, 1942). The fore runner of the United Nations was the League of Nations, an organization conceived in similar circumstances during the First World War, and established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security (Magliveras, 1999). The League of Nations failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War in 1946. Some of the reasons adduced for this failure include the following: First some powerful countries like America did not join the League because of their isolationist policy. Besides, in 1923, France and Italy occupied Ruhr and Kerkira respectively. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria and withdrew from the League two years later. In all these, the League demonstrated powerlessness (Adeniran, 1983). With the demise of the League of Nations, based on the above reasons, the leaders of US, USSR, UK, France and China conceived an idea that would guarantee international peace and security. The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the -128- UDEH,uu S. C. & OKOROAFOR, E. C.: Nigerian’s Bid for Inclusion in the Permanent Seat of the Security Council of the United Nations: As Assessment Security Council- France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the UK and the US, and by a majority of the other 46 signatories (Milestones in United Nations History, 2013). The UN Charter allows for peace loving states that are able and willing to carry out the duties of the UN, to join the organization. The United Nations, its land and buildings are international territory. The United Nations has its own flag, its own post office and its own postage stamps. Six official languages are used at the United Nations namely, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish (General Assembly of the United Nations, 2013). The United Nations Day is celebrated on 24th October each year. The United Nations has six organs namely, the General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, ICJ, ECOSOC and the Trusteeship Council. The United Nations also has some smaller, more specialized agencies that deal with specific needs. These agencies are over 15 in number and they include the
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